Help!! Sick Tetra

[captaincaveman9]

One of my neon tetra is swimming in a corkscrew pattern. Twisting around, and occasionally laying on his side on the bottom breathing heavily. His color is the same as the rest (not pale ot discolored). The other tetras look fine. The Ph is 7.2 Amonia Nitrite and Nitrate are all 0 Temp is about 76 f. ANy thoughts. I have 8 other Neon Tetras and two ghost shrimp in a 10 gallon tank.

 

[fballguy]

You sure nitrate is 0? Because 0 nitrate means the tank is not cycled. If so that would be a problem.

How do the gills look?

 

[CaitxSith]

oooo, it my tetra's "whirly thing"

sorry to say but i think there's a high chance he'll pass away...

 

[captaincaveman9]

ok just rechecked the nitrates and nitrites, nitrites are 0 nitrates are 5ppm

 

[captaincaveman9]

The gills look fine, like a peach color

 

[Star_Rider]

oooo, it my tetra's "whirly thing"

sorry to say but i think there's a high chance he'll pass away...

I am afraid all to often this is correct.

fballguy, it is possible(not generally ) for nitrates to be 0..with 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites..but I have seen this occur in heavily planted tanks..in these tanks the plant will use up the nitrates...and those with planted tanks monitor this as it is not good to have nitrates drop below 10. planted tank enthusiast shoot for a reading between 10-20 ..yes levels that many think are too high and indicate a water change..that's why I don't agree or advocate dropping nitrats without knowing what or how the tank is set up.

 

[fballguy]

oooo, it my tetra's "whirly thing"

sorry to say but i think there's a high chance he'll pass away...

Maybe you should explain what happen with yours and what you did to try to help your tetra. Then maybe caveman might be able to figure something out based on your experience.

Caveman, your params are good so I really don't know what could be wrong. How long have your had these tetras? And have you made any big changes recently?(added anything to the water, ect.)

 

[captaincaveman9]

I've had these fish for about three weeks. I have a small umbrella plant int the aquarium. only change was a water change last week.

 

[fballguy]

I've had these fish for about three weeks. I have a small umbrella plant int the aquarium. only change was a water change last week.

Then it is quite possible it just didn't acclimate very well. Unfortunatly neons can be tough to acclimate sometimes.

 

[captaincaveman9]

I thought that he might be on his final breaths, but my main concern is to keep the rest healthy.